Wedding Date Rescue

by Sonya Weiss

  Letting out a soft sigh, she moved in closer and rested her head against his chest. His body instantly stirred in interest, and he shoved the thoughts of his past away. Tomorrow, he’d wrestle them again, but for tonight, he’d hold Casey.

  When the wedding meeting ended, Kent put his hand on Casey’s back and escorted her outside. He kept the conversation on neutral topics on the drive home, and he planned to walk her to the front porch and say good night, but that plan went to hell when she gazed up at him with parted lips and a look of anticipation. Not even Superman was strong enough to walk away from that.

  One quick taste, and then he’d leave. He lowered his lips to hers and tasted the sweetness of them. The same desire he’d felt each time steamrolled over him again, urging him to unlock her front door, take her into her bedroom, and make love to her until morning. She was warmth and goodness and temptation wrapped in every inch of her body, and he was a man quickly becoming addicted.

  Casey put her hands around his neck and made the kiss harder, more urgent. She backed him against the front wall of her porch, pressing into him, and Kent thought he’d come apart at the seams. There was no way in hell he’d last long under this kind of heat. Cupping the backs of her thighs, he settled her against him, and she pulled her head back, staring deep into his eyes.

  “Yes,” she said.

  Kent didn’t have to be a member of Mensa to get her meaning. But this wasn’t what he wanted for her. She deserved better.

  “No.” With his body wanting to kick his ass for doing so, Kent stepped away.

  “I don’t understand.”

  He settled his hand over her heart. “I want to protect this. I’ll always want to protect this.” After a second, he lowered it. “I’m going to go now.” Then he did the hardest thing he’d ever had to do and walked away.

  It’s better this way.

  Chapter Nine

  She’d made her wishes clear to Kent last night. Couldn’t have been clearer without dragging him over her welcome mat and into the house. Him wanting to protect her heart was kind and noble and so Kent-like, but she didn’t need him to do that for her. She was a big girl willing to take the next step. She’d spent the day warring between embarrassment over putting herself out there and getting rejected, and wondering why he could kiss her so enthusiastically if he didn’t want more from her as well.

  Now it was evening, she was still feeling unsettled, and she was about to see him again. Going to the outdoor movie with Kent wasn’t a real date, but that didn’t mean she didn’t agonize over what to wear. In the end, because the weather had turned colder, Casey settled on a light blue turtleneck, a thick white sweater, and blue jeans. She put on ankle boots with white trim and wiggled her toes. This should keep her warm.

  When he knocked on the door and she opened it, Kent smiled. “Ready?”

  Oh, boy, was she, and for so much more than a movie. She tugged on the drawstring of the brown pullover hoodie he wore. She’d given it to him as a gift last winter. “Just so you have a heads-up, I didn’t have supper, so we’ll need a big bag of popcorn.”

  “I didn’t eat anything, either.” He waited on the porch while she closed her front door.

  “Why?” she asked. Had nerves attacked him at the thought of being with her the same way they had when she thought of being with him?

  “I got caught up at Lincoln’s, then Rafferty came over and I lost track of time.”

  They walked out onto the sidewalk behind several couples as well as entire families that were making their way toward the lake.

  Casey had watched the outdoor movies the town put on since she was a kid. But tonight was different. This time, Kent walked next to her carrying the folding chairs, while she carried the blankets.

  As they made their way through the crowd, she waved to Josie and then made sure she waved to David Roper and Brandon. That morning, she’d signed the mayor’s daughter as a client. Brenda was well connected, and a good word from her would help the business continue to revive. Roper had seemed pleased when she’d shared the news. Surely more good things were on the horizon.

  Kent set up the chairs, and once they were seated, Casey covered them with one of the blankets and shivered beneath it. Not from the cold but from the thrill when Kent placed his arm against hers.

  She glanced at him. It had floored her last night when he’d said he wanted to protect her heart. He had to care more than he was letting on.

  He turned his head to look at her. She wanted to tell him what she thought about his actions last night—that he was honorable and sexy as hell—but she lost her nerve under the onslaught of the blueness of his eyes. Then he half smiled, and her breath hitched. No wonder she was a bundle of nerves. She was in imminent danger of falling head over heels for a friend.

  Throughout the movie she stewed over that thought, but in the end, she decided to stop her worrying. If she played it safe, she might end up missing something amazing, and she’d rather fall for Kent and it not work out than to sit on the sidelines wondering what might have been. She had to say something.

  After the movie, they walked along the lake back toward her house. Her foot, still sore from where she’d bruised it at the fair, began to throb, and Casey slowed down, then hobbled. Finally she stopped walking altogether.

  “I knew you’d come up with a reason to get into my arms,” Kent said as he swept her up against his chest.

  Laughing, Casey put her hands on his shoulders, and he grinned back.

  They stood still in front of the white fence that the town would decorate for Christmas. The water from the lake rippled behind them. This is it. The moment she would tell him she wanted more than friendship from him.

  His grin faded. “I should get you home.”

  “Kent…I think…I want…”

  “I know.” He started walking, and she couldn’t get any more words out. He carried her the short distance to her home, walked up onto the porch, and slowly lowered her to her feet.

  She indicated the porch swing. “Want to sit out here and have hot chocolate?” She moved slowly inside. Her foot bothered her, but not nearly as much as her heart.

  Taking a breath, she set a pot on to boil then took the ingredients from the pantry. Once the chocolate was done, she returned to the swing and took a seat beside him. He gently rocked the swing.

  “Strawberries,” he said after a moment.

  Baffled, Casey lowered her cup from her lips. “What?”

  “The scent of the lip gloss you used in high school.” He poked at a marshmallow and watched it bob around in his cup. “We came around a corner and bumped into each other—”

  “In the hallway junior year. You were with Lincoln.” She remembered that. Hitting the solid wall of his chest and how surprised they both had been. The awkward dance as they’d tried to step around each other.

  “Yeah. I got a D on my English test that day because I couldn’t concentrate. All I could think about was strawberries.”

  Casey licked her lips. Now or never. Clearing the sudden clog in her throat, she said, “Did you ever think your lack of concentration was because you were attracted to me?”

  “I don’t know. It was a long time ago.” He gave a rueful shake of his head and changed the subject, asking what she thought about the movie.

  They talked about that, then about their families and how many members of each were firefighters. Just like it always had, their conversation flowed smoothly from one topic to the next until Casey stood. “It’s too cold out here.” She tilted her head. “Come in. You know you want more marshmallows.”

  He laughed and followed her in. After she fixed both of them another cup, they sat on the sofa and talked until the clock on her mantel struck midnight. Kent leaned his head back against the cushions.

  “I’ll be right back.” Casey took the cups and went into the kitchen to set them in the sink. When she returned, Kent was asleep. Knowing how often his sleep was interrupted thanks to his job, she didn’t want t
o wake him. She gently covered him with a blanket and tiptoed to bed herself. Tomorrow, she would tell him how she felt about him.

  The next morning, Casey woke up before her alarm went off. Remembering that Kent had stayed the night propelled her out of bed faster than usual.

  It wasn’t the first time Kent had slept over, but that had been when she’d still lived at home and she’d had her family in the house with her. This felt different. Way more intimate.

  She brushed her teeth, tamed her bed hair into some semblance of order, and padded barefoot down the hallway to make sure Kent was awake. If he had to be at work, she didn’t want him to be late. In the doorway leading into the living room, she stopped and gasped.

  Kent was stretched out on the sofa with his back to her. He must have taken his shirt off in the middle of the night, and the sight of his scars caused the breath to whoosh from her lungs. She knew about his injuries, had seen glimpses of them but never the whole extent. Since he’d healed, he had a habit of trying to keep his back covered.

  As if sensing he was being watched, Kent rolled over, and the second he blinked awake and realized he was bare chested, he jerked upright and searched for his shirt.

  “No, Kent.” She rushed to sit beside him on the sofa. “Please.” She wanted to weep at the uncertainty in the eyes of the man who’d always been so self-assured, who, despite what had happened to him, was still brave enough to run into the flames to save those who needed him.

  His throat worked as he swallowed. “It’s, uh…not pretty.”

  “They’re a mark of bravery. A hero’s stamp. Don’t you dare be embarrassed.” She knew only bits and pieces of the ugly words Rebecca had hurled at him after the accident and wished she could erase the memory for him. “Turn around.” She pulled insistently at his belt loops to get him to move.

  He turned and presented his back to her. Tension radiated from his shoulders, and his posture was stiff. Casey pressed her lips to the thickest scar, and he exhaled. Lifting her hands, she traced each mark on his back until he abruptly turned to face her.

  “I need to go.” His voice was ragged. Rising, he grabbed his shirt and headed into her bathroom, calling out, “Still have those extra toothbrushes?”

  “In the cabinet under the sink,” she answered. He closed the bathroom door behind him, and Casey tugged nervously at the hem of the nightie shorts she wore. Touching her lips to his back had felt so right, yet it had clearly bothered him.

  Kent came back into the room, interrupting her thoughts. He sat down beside her and began putting on his shoes. He was muscled and sexy, scarred and heroic, and such an interwoven part of her life that she could never imagine not having him in it. She had the urge to tell him exactly that, but he straightened and said, “I’ll call you later.” And the moment was lost as he walked out the door.

  Casey hugged her arms around herself, wishing she could hug Kent instead. His reaction to her seeing the breadth of his scars had helped her realize the keep-away vibe he kept throwing out didn’t have anything to do with her. He was afraid of being rejected. Casey lifted her chin. She would prove to him that she was nothing like Rebecca, that her feelings for him went beyond skin-deep.

  …

  The touch of Casey’s lips on his skin had nearly been Kent’s undoing. He’d wanted to scoop her up and show her how well he could do a fireman’s carry as he hauled her to her bedroom. But then he’d remembered how the scars came to be. How he’d let someone he cared about down. How he felt knowing Aiden died because of him.

  There were only a few calls to handle throughout the day, so he worked extra hard at the station trying to keep his mind off Casey. It didn’t work. She remained in his head even after he climbed into bed. He finally fell asleep at about two in the morning, and an emergency call came in at four. The lights in the bunkroom switched on automatically when the accident call came in, rousing them all from a sound sleep.

  Kent ran on adrenaline as he and his fellow firefighters rushed to the accident site and fought to extract the teens from the car. Back at the station, changing out of their clothing and stowing their gear, things began to calm down. He had half an hour left on his shift, and as soon as he was done, he planned to hit the gym to work off the heaviness weighing on him.

  “Are you all right?” Kent asked the rookie, Kevin. Situations involving young people always seemed to hit home harder than some others.

  “I’m fine,” Kevin said.

  Kent and Lincoln shared a look.

  Kent knew the younger fireman was using the go-to response that they all did. Even if a scene was tearing them up, they’d never let anyone see it. He suspected it was because in their silence they felt as if they were protecting others—especially their loved ones—from the painful details. Though their captain often held stress debriefings, and counseling was available through the county for first responders who had trouble dealing with what they’d seen, getting help wasn’t mandated.

  Kent didn’t push the rookie. Better than anyone, he understood wanting to keep everything inside. He wasn’t about to judge a colleague’s response, but he wanted him to know he wasn’t alone. “We’re all here for you, man.”

  “Yeah, okay.” Kevin hurried off.

  “Think he’ll make it?”

  “I don’t know.” Kent shrugged.

  “Are you on for dinner with my folks tonight?” Linc asked as they headed in. “My mother has turned it into a big gathering. I think half the town’s going to be there.”

  Kent couldn’t help but laugh at Linc’s grumbling. His mom loved people and loved entertaining. Her home had been the go-to house in the neighborhood when they were kids.

  “I’ll be there.” With Casey. Sweet, sexy Casey, whose kisses turned his life upside down.

  Lincoln slapped him on the back. “Dude, you’re staring off into space.”

  “Sorry, I was thinking about your sister.”

  “Do I want to hear this?”

  “Not like that,” Kent chided, rubbing the back of his neck, hoping it helped to ease the tension there. “I’m worried that I’m going to end up making a mistake. That I’m going to fall for Casey.”

  “You’re wondering if you’re good enough for her.”

  Kent nodded.

  Lincoln studied him for a second. “All right, bro, I’m gonna put this out there, and you do whatever the hell you think is best. Rebecca was a piece of work who twisted you up inside and out. Don’t let what she said and did continue to have a hold on you.” He’d started scowling the moment he said Rebecca’s name.

  Their conversation was drowned out by the arrival of Rafferty in his black Dodge Charger. He revved the powerful engine once before shutting it down, then climbed out. Pointing a finger at Kent, he said, “Your snoring kept my sister awake.”

  “You spent the night with Casey?” Lincoln looked surprised and a little put out. Both brothers crossed their arms and stared at him.

  Crap.

  “You should know stuff like that makes the rounds fast,” Rafferty said.

  “I fell asleep on the couch, and I don’t snore,” Kent answered.

  Rafferty grinned. “Just messing with you. Heard the rumor while I was at the coffee shop, then I ran into Casey and asked her about it. She told me what really happened.”

  “Bradford!” someone from the back of the bay yelled. “Rafferty. Captain wants to see you.”

  The amusement fled from Rafferty’s face. “Be right there,” he called back. “Listen, Kent, you’ve got bigger problems than those rumors.” He shot an amused look at Lincoln. “Grandma is flying in. Casey bought her a plane ticket and convinced her to come home. She’ll be arriving at the airport in less than half an hour.”

  “Okay, but how is that a problem?”

  “Grandma wants you and Casey to pick her up and give her a ride to the house.”

  “That’s not a big deal.” Kent didn’t like the way Lincoln grinned.

  “You don’t know what my grandmother
is like now. She’s eighty-five and worse than your mom and Casey at matchmaking,” Lincoln said.

  Rafferty nodded. “People in her retirement community in Florida call her Cupid.”

  Kent remembered their grandmother as an older woman with a wild sense of humor who laughed a lot but had a sharp tongue and wasn’t afraid to give her opinion. The last time he’d seen her wasn’t long after he’d been injured.

  “Bradford!”

  Rafferty made a face. “Gotta run. Catch you later.” He jogged off.

  “I have two words for you when dealing with Grandma—take backup.”

  Kent blew out a breath. “I can hold my own with one little old lady.” She was a retiree. How difficult could she be to handle?

  Chapter Ten

  Casey didn’t know if she was more excited about her grandmother flying in or by the fact that Kent was on his way to get her so they could pick her up together. She straightened her desk, then went to splash cold water on her face.

  In the tiny bathroom, staring into the mirror with water droplets on her face, she realized the underlying reason for the nervousness lodged in the pit of her stomach. She was afraid at some point Kent would run. The man had an expiration date for every relationship he’d been involved in.

  She still wanted to tell him she wanted more than friendship, but she was worried about the timing. If she told him now and he nipped it in the bud, they still had to spend time together because of the wedding. It would make things awkward.

  A horn blew in the street. Casey hurriedly dried her face on a paper towel then went out to meet Kent. As she got into his truck, she noticed he looked tense. He was sitting stiffly with his back straight. Either he’d had a bad call, or it was the impending arrival of Grandma Armageddon. Her grandmother wasn’t easily fooled.

  The warm spice of his cologne filled the truck’s cab, along with the scent of vanilla. Vanilla? She glanced at the console and saw two cups of coffee.

  “I thought we could use the fortification,” he said grimly, like someone had just told him the engine on his truck was about to blow.